The creation of imitation marble, granite, and other finishes has been practiced for many years. Traditionally, an artisan manually applies paint to a surface and manipulates it into a pattern that seeks to duplicate the appearance of natural materials. These “faux” finishes are desirable because they may be used when the original materials are not available, are too expensive, or their use is impracticable or unfeasible.
Given the flexibility offered by these finishes, artisans often endeavor to recreate the look of aged walls, marble, rare stone, fine wood, textiles, plasters and textures finishes, along with simulating natural aging and distressing of materials. Regardless of the specific project, attention to detail, proper technique, and appropriate materials are critical to lending authenticity and believability to the appearance of the surface being displayed.
Certain techniques and finishes have been devised to manipulate paints or colorants into assuming a desirable surface while attempting to minimize the need for detailed manipulation by the artisan. Despite the variety of techniques and finishes available, these finishes are often difficult to work with, particularly following their application to the surface to be decorated. For example, current techniques and finishes do not provide the artisan with sufficient time and flexibility to manipulate the finish into a desired position and/or texture well after the finish has been allowed to partially dry on the substrate. To the contrary, in most cases, the applied materials dry, adhere, react or bond quickly, thereby dissipating the malleable qualities of the finish over short periods of time.
Another disadvantage of current finishes and techniques is the inability to cleanly and sharply remove the finish from the substrate. This disadvantage is not only attributable to the rapid reactive and drying rates associated with currently available finishes, but also due to the thin layer that typically forms. Ultimately, this poses a significant disadvantage when the artisan is displeased with the initial application, elects another artistic result or chooses to expose portions of the surface beneath the finish.
Therefore, there is a need for a decorative faux finish that, when applied to a substrate, provides the artisan with a sufficient amount of time and flexibility to manipulate the finish into a desired texture and appearance. Although such finishes would preferably be modifiable for suitable periods of time, when fully dry, the finish would adhere to the underlying substrate to a similar degree of existing finishes. It would also be desirable to provide a finish that, when applied to a substrate, provides a puffed and grainy structure that is very easy to cleanly and sharply remove from the surface on which it is applied.